Ship hull construction



Oct. 13, 1942. A. P. SWANSON 2,298,661

SHIP HULL CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 4, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor Afrom: 1'

1942 A. P. SWANSON 2,298,661

SHIP HULL CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 4, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Oct. 13,1942. PI som 2,293,661

SHIP HULL CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 4, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Q 6 Q a a Q aa e 7 A? e a a e 6 a Q 6 4 Q a a a a 111 m;- 7 6 a Q a a w);iflflya/rwa/fr k e e I 6 Q a A Home Oct. 13, 1942- A. P. SWANSON SHIPHULL CONS TRUGTION Filed Aug. 4, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 A Home Oct. 13,1942. p SWANSON 2,298,661

SHIP HULL CONSTRUCTION Filed Aug. 4, 1941 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 A Hon/q 1'Patented Oct. 13, 1942 U NIT ED .S TATE S O FF I-C E SHIP HULLCONSTRUCTION 'Albin P. Swanson, MountJewett; Pa.

ApplicationAngust 4, 1941, Serial No. 405,392

(C'l. i1'1411) 6 Claims.

This invention relatesto new-and useful "improvements in protectiveconstruction for the hulls of-ships, the principal object of theinvention being to protect the hull of -a ship against -the explosiveefiect of torpedoes, mines and other destructiveagents.

Another important object of the'invention is to providea protectiveconstruction for-ship hulls which in use will serve to direct the forceof an exploding torpedo or mine along'the outer-side of-the-hull.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become'apparent tothe reader of the following specification.

one of the units shown in Figure 4 withthe core removed.

Figure '7 is aside elevational view of one of the cores'for use inthe'shell shown in- Figure 6. Figure 8 is a longitudinal sectional viewthrough one of the units-shown in Figure 4.

Figure 9 is a side elevational view of one of the units.

Figure lOis a cross sectional view through "one of the units.

Figure 11 is a section of a twopart core of the construction shown inFigure 7.

Figure 12 is a side elevational view of a section of a two part coreconstructed for use as shownin Figure9.

Figure 13 is a fragmentary horizontal sectional view through a modifiedform of construction shown provided with units having right angularlyformed ends.

Figure 14 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing the units ofFigure 13 in end elevation.

Figure 15 is a side elevational view of a core such as is used in theunits of the form of the invention shown inFigures 13 and 14.

Figure 16 is a side elevational view of a core divided @di'a'gonallythis being a modification of the form shown in Figure 15.

Figure 17 is-.another.modi.fication of the core of .Figurel5providedwith reinforcing side plates.

Figure 18 is a sidev elevational view of another modification .of-thecore shown in Figure 15, this being provided with opposed plates.

-Figure l9-is asideelevational View of one of the cases-with the. noseof a torpedo entered.

Referring to the .drawingswherein like numerals designatelike parts, it.can be seen in Figure lthatnumeral 3 generally refers to a ship hull,while numeral d generally refers to the present inventionsuitably-secured as bywelding to the lower portion of said hull.

The firstform of the invention is shown in Figures 4-to 10,-inc1usive,and this consists of a shell 5' whi'ch preferably has an outside wall aandan-inside wall D and perhaps a partition 0 to 20 divide the interiorinto several compartments for holding units 6. These units 6 form theimportantpart of the'present invention in that they serve-to deflecttheeffect of explosions longitudinally along the outside of the hullinstead of directlyagainst-the hull. First, these units serve to cushionor deflect the primary force of the torpedo and as the explosion occursthe explosive force dissipates itself by deflection and in effectagainst the units which are constructed to absorb and deflect force'to ahigh degree.

shownin Figures 8,- 9 and-10 each of these unitst-consists of'a case 1preferably of square cross section and provided with a two-waybeveled'end' 8. Theother end of the case is open. The case is stamped orotherwise formed to provide outwardly disposed longitudinally extendingribs 9 and ribs l0 of like formation which extend around the case andtowhich the longitudinal ribs Sare'connected.

'These ribs meeting each other afford a structure which can be morereadily welded together, asit-is intended that the units be weldedtogether in compact assembly as suggested in the drawings.

A core' of wood or some othe cheap material denoted by numeral 1 l' isdisposed into the case 1, this core having a double tapered end 12 tofit into the nose part 8 of the shell 1.

A curved plate I3 is secured by suitable means to the butt end of thecore I I.

It may be desirable to form the core into two longitudinal sections suchas is denoted by reference character I la in Figure 11 in which instanceeach section Ha will be provided with a curved butt end plate l3la.

Secondly, it may be desirable to substitute plate to to the obliquefaces of core sections Hb ,corresponding to the core sections Ila tosubstitute for the nose portion 8 of the shell I.

' Another form of the invention is shown in Fig- I ures 13 and 14wherein the numeral 15 denotes a shell having an inner wall d and anouter wall e between which are stacked units generally referred to bynumeral [6. These units l6 are somewhat different from the units 6 inthat they do not have the pointed ends. Each shell or case [1 receives acore I8 of Wood or some similar cheap material. Each core H! has one endcut off at right angles and has a plate 19 attached thereto while theother end which receives the force of a torpedo or other explosive agentis rounded off and has a curved plate 20' attached thereto.

Obviously, the block or core 18 can be divided into a pair of diagonallycut sections I8a, l8a if desired and provided with end plates l9a andAnother form of core is shown in Figure 17 wherein the block is divideddiagonally intosections [81), I8b, not only provided with end lates I91)and 20b but also with conformingly out side plates 2|, 22.

Another manner of constructing the block I8 is to divide the blockdiagonally into a pair of sections I80, I80 and not only providing thesesections I80, I80 with end plates I90 and 200, but also with opposedplates 23 and 24 on the oblique opposed faces thereof so that there willbe no likelihood of the grains or fibers of the sections interlappingunder the effect of an explosion.

It can now be seen that as a torpedo enters the shell the torpedo willstrike or be deflected against one of the curved plates I'3 which, inturn, will further have a tendency to deflect the nose of the torpedo,thus preventing the torpedo from getting any closer to the hull of theship. When the explosion takes place, the effect will be to separate theimmediate unit for the compression of the units longitudinally of theoutside of the hull as the units immediately located adjacent theexplosion have a tendency to wedge inwardly offering strong resistanceto the effect of the explosion.

The form of the invention shown in Figure 18 has a similar efiect withthe exception that in this instance tortuous routing of the force of theexplosion toward the hull is effected by the staggored 0r brick methodof arranging the units, and also relying considerably on the primaryeffect of the curved end plate 20.

Figure 19 shows a torpedo after its nose portion has pushed through thecurved plate l3 or wherever a like construction is used and has enteredthe end portion of the corresponding case 1. Obviously, thecorresponding core will offer considerable resistance and the effect ofthe shell is to limit penetration further toward the hull of the ship.

Figure 3 shows an arrangement for assembling the various units. Theseunits are welded to the hull of the vessel and consist in the use oflarge units X in conjunction with shorter and narrower units Y andelongated but narrow units Z. The narrow units Y and Z are used betweenthe large units X and interlap the ends thereof in such a Way as topresent an interlocking structure which when welded together ofiersconsiderable resistance against the explosive effect of torpedoes. Theseunits are welded together in an integral assembly.

Reverting back to the structures which include the curved end plate l3,it is to be understood that if the torpedo does not explode immediatelyupon contact with the curved plate [3, but continues its progress, theshoulders of the torpedo will come in contact with the ends of the case1 as shown in Figure 19, thereby completely stopping further progress.The diameter of the case 1 should not be larger than 10 inches as thepresent invention is intended to not only stop objects by deflection,but also ofiers protection against direct penetration of torpedoes.

While the foregoing specification sets forth the invention in specificterms, it is to be understood that numerous changes in the shape, sizeand materials may be resorted to without departing from the spirit andscope of the invention as claimed hereinafter.

Having described the invention, claimed as new is:

1. A protective attachment for ship hulls comprising a shell and aplurality of shock absorbing units arranged in the shell, each of thesaid units consisting of a casing having a transversely square body anda pointed end and a solid core of fibrous material.

2. A protective attachment for ship hulls comprising a shell and aplurality of shock absorbing units arranged in the shell, each of saidunits consisting of a casing having a transversely square body and apointed end, a solid core of fibrous material and a force deflectingplate at the other end of the casing, said casing having transverse andlongitudinal ribs.

3. A protective attachment for ship hulls comprising a shell and aplurality of shock absorbing units arranged in the shell, each of saidunits consisting of a casing .and a core, each core being divideddiagonally into a pair of sections.

4. A protective attachment for ship hulls comprising a shell and aplurality of shock absorbing units arranged in the shell, said unitseach consisting of a block of fibrous materialdivided diagonally.

5. A protective attachment for ship hulls comprising a shell and aplurality of shock absorbing units arranged in the shell, said unitseach consisting of a block of fibrous material divided diagonally, andprovided with opposed face plates.

6. A protective attachment for ship hulls comprising a shell and aplurality of shock absorbing units arranged in the shell, said unitseach consisting of a block of fibrous material divided diagonally andprovided with metallic side plates.

what is ALBIN P. SWANSO'N'.

